


Timestamps

by amfiguree



Series: Superheroics [3]
Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Kidnapping, M/M, Original Character(s), Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-09 04:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amfiguree/pseuds/amfiguree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sneak peeks into the Archuleta-Cook household.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. s is for superheroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This dating thing is new to them both.

Some days, Cook is jealous of the fact that his boyfriend has the whole 'pop sensation by day, superhero by night' thing going on. Especially on occasions where it gives Archie legitimate reason to cut out of his PR meetings early, or to end his recording sessions at normal _human_ hours that are not two in the damned morning--  
  
Which isn't to say that Archie's superhero tendencies don't have an up side. Because the transformation Cook sees when Archie goes from his usual mild-mannered, _aw shucks_ self to assertive, self-assured hero is - well, it's pretty fucking hot.  
  
(Like the time last week when Archie had stopped by to see Cook at the studio for what was supposed to be a lunch date, except Cook had been held back because of some fucking PR emergency about his sexuality - as if there was anyone still out there with cable who couldn't tell you that Cook was bi - and twenty minutes into the meeting-with-no-purpose, Archie had stormed into the room, face pinched, wearing a smile Cook saw through right away, and proceeded to chew the _fuck_ out of the _entire management team_ because "now I have to leave for-- for, um, for some _real_ emergency downtown, and I won't even get to spend five minutes with my boyfriend because you guys are all, whatever, holding him _hostage_ here to talk about stupid things like - like _me_ \--"  
  
Which, yeah. That had been kind of awesome. And Cook had totally told Archie so, later, when the room was clear and no one could protest the fact that what Cook was doing to Archie's mouth - and other parts of Archie's anatomy - hardly constituted talking.)  
  
Point is, Cook gets jealous sometimes. Right now isn't one of them.  
  
"Ow," Archie says, miserably, as Cook pins the bandage tightly into place around Archie's stomach, the way Jeff taught him. _You want to date my son,_ he'd said, _You better know how to patch him up good._  
  
"Good," Cook says, grimly. He sees Archie flinch a little, at that, and immediately feels like an asshole, but when he looks up, Archie's face is angled away. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, but sometimes Archie's powers fucking _suck_.  
  
Cook turns back to Archie's ribs, pressing his fingers to them, gentle but firm, testing for a reaction. Archie tenses a little, but otherwise seems fine, and Cook lets out a long, quiet breath. "You promised me you'd bring backup," he says, eventually, after a second. His voice is tight. "Arch, you rushed into a _burning building_. Fuck, you could've gotten a lot worse than three fractured ribs."  
  
"The firemen were two minutes away," Archie offers. It's only a little defensive. "I knew I wouldn't get hurt. Or, um, I was 90 percent sure?"  
  
"You don't have super strength!" Cook barks. He can feel Archie look up, then, so he doesn't. "You don't have a body of steel! Fuck, David, you could have -- you'd already handed the goddamn arsonist over to the cops! Why didn't you just _wait_ for the firemen?"  
  
"But I couldn't wait, Cook!" Archie protests. "I would've been way too late, and there were, like, whatever, _fifty_ kittens up there, I--"  
  
"Kittens," Cook repeats, looking up incredulously. He only catches a brief glimpse of Archie's pale, shaky expression before Archie ducks his head away. "You - _kittens_? That's why you ran into a fifteen-story burning building--"  
  
"Cook," Archie says.  
  
Cook shakes his head. "No," he says. "No, you know what? Never mind." He's not angry anymore; just tired. This is an old argument. It's starting to wear thin. "I don't want to hear it."

Cook pushes to his feet, then, but he's barely taken one step before Archie catches his wrist and tugs him back, and when Cook turns around, Archie's looking up at him, earnestly, expression pinched, his jaw set, his brows furrowed. "What's going on with you?" he says, a gentle command.

"I keep telling you to weigh the consequences," Cook hears himself say, almost on auto-pilot. His mind is completely blank. "But I guess kittens are more important than that." Cook's jaw clenches. "I guess _kittens_ and armed bank robbers and terrorists with suicidal tendencies are more important than the people who have to pick up the pieces every time you get hurt. Or, God forbid, the people you might be leaving behind. And I can't keep--"

"I'm sorry," Archie says, his voice small. Cook blinks. Archie's not looking at him anymore, hasn't been for a while, from the looks of it. His hands are shaking where they're clenched in his lap. "Cook, I'm sorry, I just - I didn't think, and - it's not -- I _do_ think about you, oh my gosh, I think about you, like, all the time, even when it's way inconvenient, and. I'm not used to - this dating thing, I haven't--"

"Arch," Cook sighs. He hesitates for a second, but eventually he sits down beside Archie on the couch, so close their thighs are touching. "Look, don't - in case you haven't noticed, this superhero thing is pretty new to me too."

Archie drops his forehead on Cook's shoulder, and Cook feels him breathe in, slow and deep. "Please don't," he says, quietly. "Cook, please don't go."

"The only place I'm going is the bedroom," Cook says, reaching for Archie's hand. "We'll work on it, okay? Just, maybe without your powers, the next time."

"Sorry," Archie says, on a laugh. It comes out watery. "I - desperate times?"

"Yeah," Cook agrees, rolling his eyes fondly, because he's useless at staying mad. "But if you pull that mojo on me again, I might just have to start blindfolding myself."

"Is that supposed to be - to make me _not_ do it again?" Archie says, after a second.

The only reason Cook doesn't crack up is the fact that Archie sounds completely serious. "Jesus Christ," he says. "Bedroom, Archuleta. _Now_."

It doesn't take a superhero to figure out that their problems can _totally_ wait till the morning.


	2. some time in the very distant future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a retired superhero's husband has taught Cook a few things.

As soon as they put Archie on the other end of the line, Cook's yelling, "Jesus Christ, what were you _thinking_?"  
  
"Cook--"  
  
"No, what the _fuck_ were you thinking? You're retired. _Retired_. That means _not_ going out and getting kidnapped by a bunch of psychopathic--"  
  
"That's not the smartest thing to say to a bunch of psychopathic killers," Evilution interrupts suddenly, tutting, and then there's a loud, sickening crunch, and Cook's heart seizes at the low, breathless whine that comes with it.  
  
"Archie," he says, but his voice catches, and he comes close to swerving off the road, he's shaking so hard. "Don't - don't you fucking _touch_ him, asshole."  
  
Evilution doesn't sound smug anymore, just impatient. "Then get me my fucking money, asshole."  
  
It grates on Cook's nerves, a combination of terror and fury that scrapes his insides raw.

He doesn't remember how he gets to the warehouse, just that he does, and it doesn't involve any casualties, and he's alone.

He sees Archie before anything - everything - else, a bag over his head, strapped down to a chair with his arms twisted and tied behind his back at a strange, painful angle that makes Cook's stomach churn. But he's _alive_ , and Cook feels the knot in his chest come loose.

"Archie," he says, lurching forward--

"Ah, ah, ah," Evilution says, and it's only then that Cook notices the gun aimed squarely at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Where's the money?"

It takes too much effort for Cook to drag his eyes from Archie, to raise the duffel bag in his hand, to unzip it to reveal the wad of green underneath.

"If I find out these are tagged--"

"They're not," Cook says. He sounds calmer than he feels. "The city wasn't going to pay ransom for a superhero they hadn't heard from in fourteen months. The money's mine."

"Cook," Archie says, suddenly, and Cook swings around. "Cook, no, you can't--"

"Oh, but I assure you he can," Evilution says, with a wicked grin. "Now throw it over, and no one gets hurt." He pauses, watching as Cook cuts a glance at Archie, and shrugs. "No one gets any _more_ hurt."

"You're a fucking asshole," Cook growls.

"Thank you," Evilution says, still smiling as he cocks his gun. It's not a friendly smile. "But I believe we've already covered that. Now hand the money over."

" _Cook_ \--"

Cook hurls the bag at him, hard and fast. It catches Evilution in the stomach, and the gun skitters out of his hand as he doubles over, gagging. Cook crosses the distance between them in two long strides. "Guess I should've mentioned I also keep my bowling balls in this bag."

"You--" Evilution groans.

Then Cook slams his fist into the guy's jaw, and Evilution goes down like a sack of potatoes.

"Cook?"

And then Cook's on his knees beside Archie, yanking the bag off his head and slicing the ropes around his wrists and feet, and Archie's pitching straight into his arms, pale and shaky. "Cook," he says again, into Cook's chest, "I'm sorry," and Jesus _Christ_ , Cook is never, _never_ fucking letting him go again.

"I am going to kick your ass when we get home, I swear to God," he says, but his voice comes out reedy thin, and his eyes are burning as he presses his mouth to Archie's temple.

Archie lets out a watery laugh. "Okay," he says. "But can we get up now? I think my arm is broken."

"Fuck," Cook swears, jerking back and pushing to his feet, slipping an arm gingerly around Archie's waist to help him up as well. "Shit, fucking - are you okay? Is anything else broken?"

"No," Archie says hurriedly, but he's leaning a little too heavily into Cook's side for Cook to take him very seriously. "No, no, it's fine. I'm fine. I--oh my _heck_ , Cook! What - how did you--"

Cook turns a little to see Evilution still sprawled on the floor. There's more blood on the ground than Cook remembers there being. Huh. He's less surprised than he should be, though; his knuckles are still throbbing. "There are a couple of things you pick up when you're dating a superhero," he says, eventually.

"Oh my gosh, Cook!" Archie protests, eyes wide and incredulous. "I totally did not teach you that!"

"Doesn't matter," Cook says grimly, as they hobble towards the exit, already calculating the quickest way to get to the hospital. "That's the story we're telling the police."


End file.
